FOSSIL VERTEBRATES— MAMMALIA l8l 



specialized of the Carnivora. The first live almost entirely 

 upon blood drawn from the veins of their victims and the 

 second are aquatic in habit and great eaters of fish. They began 

 their development in the upper Eocene and in that time and the 

 Miocene a large number of forms were developed in Europe. 

 After the Miocene they spread out and the deposits of all parts 

 of the world, with the exception of Australia, are rich in their 

 remains. 



Viverridae. — A small group of cat-like animals confined to 

 Africa, Asia and Southern Europe. They originated in the 

 Eocene of Europe and only as late as the Pliocene appeared in 

 others countries. 



Hy<z?iidae. — The hyaenas are somewhere between the cats and 

 the bears, the teeth are partly sectorial and partly crushing in 

 form. They appeared in the Upper Eocene of Europe and Asia 

 and are now known from those deposits with the addition of 

 North Africa. HycEidctis is one of the first forms. It is from 

 the Miocene of Europe and Asia. 



Felidae. — The cats reach, perhaps, the highest point of the 

 development of the Carnivora. The teeth are highly specialized ; 

 the molars seem to show a tendency to grow less in number and 

 to assume more and more the form of the feline carnassials which 

 are the highest type of that tooth form developed. The fore 

 feet are modified to serve as organs of prehension as well as 

 locomotion. The canine tooth reaches enormous proportions in 

 some forms, and there is a process on the lower jaw to protect 

 them as in the Dinocerata. They originated in the Upper Eocene 

 and rapidly spread all over the world. The Oligocene, White 

 River, of the United States is especially rich in the remains of 

 these forms. 



Eusntilus. — Upper Eocene of Europe. 



Hoplophonens, Dinictis, Nimravus and Pogonodon. — -White River, 

 United States. 



Machairodus. — Pliocene, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 

 This form is remarkable for the great length of the upper 

 canine. It was so long that it is possible that the animal could 



